


take me home

by Skyuni123



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Friendship/Love, Meet-Ugly, Science Girlfriends, and they have to room with the object of their affections, because this is a rom-com plot, it's that conceit, where someone is kicked out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-07-24 04:04:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7493112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyuni123/pseuds/Skyuni123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Your cousin? Is your landlord? And he kicked you out?” Erin was incredulous.</p><p>“Benny got tired that I set my place on fire so often.” Holtzmann sighed, “And there wasn’t even any property damage! I always put the fire out. So, he said that I couldn’t come to Thanksgiving with his family this year unless I left, and I mean, I hate him, but his family is super nice and they make the best -”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. a night under a table is not a good idea

Erin Gilbert didn’t mean to go past the firehouse on her way home. She had forgotten the book she was currently making her way through - ‘Uncovering the Truth of the Other Side’, by an author whose name she didn’t remember - and although she knew that she could easily find a copy on the internet (an occupational hazard post-the Mercado Incident), there was always something comforting about having an actual book in her hands. 

Her keys jingled in her hand as she tried to find the lock in the 1 am gloom. It wasn’t that dark - New York’s light pollution stopped absolute darkness - but it was just dark enough that she couldn’t quite see the lock. After struggling for a few more moments she finally got the door open, and walked inside. The ground floor was dark, hazy blackness only punctuated by the faint lights of Holtzmann’s machines. Erin pulled the door shut behind her and felt along the wall for the light switch.

When she flipped it on, light flooded the room and two things happened at once. There was an abrupt, very loud, bang, and Holtzmann yelled, “Shit!”

Erin jerked back in surprise, having not been expecting anyone in the building at this time of night, and looked around for the wayward scientist. She could just see what looked like the other woman’s blonde hair at the very back of the room. “Holtzmann? Are you under that table?”

There was a groan from the other woman, “Do I get bonus points if I say no?”

The confirmation was enough for her. Erin rushed across the room, dodging far more equipment than she was sure had been present when she had left, and found the younger woman crawling out from underneath one of their large equipment tables.

“Oh, hey Erin.” The younger woman said groggily, but as though she was still trying to crack a joke, “Don’t look now, I’m bleeding!”

Her left hand was pressed over her forehead, and she could just see redness seeping out from beneath her palm.  
In horror, Erin crouched down to meet her. Head wounds could be serious. “Shit, was that me?”

“Nah.” Holtzmann said, blearily, eyes unfocussed, “Tables are… sharper than you’d think. Bit surprised, is all.”

Erin grasped the other woman gently by her shoulders and helped her to her feet. She stumbled once as she led her over to one of their chairs and settled her down.  
It became apparent to her once she had gotten gauze from their overstocked first aid kit (ghosts were _bitches_ sometimes), that Holtzmann had been underneath the table sleeping, and had been surprised when she had arrived, thus hitting her head.

“I’m sorry!” She said anxiously, as she taped gauze onto the other woman’s forehead, “I did-”

“Chill.” Holtzmann said, grasping her hand with her unbloodied one, “Not your fault.”

“You could have a concussion!”

“Erin, you’re making **me** anxious.” Holtzmann waved her hand about in a frenzied way, “I’ve had enough of these, I know I'm not concussed.” Her words were punctuated with a slur that definitely did not sound healthy. 

“Are you sure, you so-”

“It’s cool.” Holtzmann winked and squeezed her hand in a way that totally didn’t send butterflies fluttering about in Erin’s stomach, because that would be ridiculous. 

She let Erin’s hand go, cleared her throat and stood up from the chair. Walking a few steps gingerly, she turned around and said, “See? I’m fine. I’m already crazy, it’s cool.”

“Um… Okay. I guess.” Her frenetic movements did nothing to put Erin’s mind at ease, but there was really nothing she could do about it.

“So. What are you doing here?” Holtzmann picked up a soda cup that had been resting on one of their other equipment tables and took a sip. Immediately grimacing, she lowered the cup back to the table and affixed an innocent expression.

“Grape?” Erin asked, pointing at the cup.

“Yeah.” Holtzmann winced, sounding personally offended, “Disgusting.”

“Abby.” 

“Yeah.” Holtzmann found another cup on the same table and took a sip. “So, you didn’t say. What are you doing in my lair at this time of night?”

“Your lair? Really?” Erin settled back against the table, “I spend the same amount of time here as you.” 

“You _think_ you spend the same amount of time here as me.” She raised her eyebrows, “This place has _crevices_ you’d never know about.”

“Is that a challenge?” Erin scoffed, “Because, for your information, I would definitely win.”

“Mmmm… Later.” Holtzmann swallowed and continued, “Go on?” She waved her arms around, gesticulating wildly.

“I literally just came to get a book.” She shrugged, “No wild stories here!”

“Damn. Boring.” The other woman sighed, “Oh well.”  


“Why are you here?” Erin asked, bringing something that had been nagging at her since she had encountered the other woman, to the forefront. They didn’t really spend time at the firehouse on their own. They spent enough time there during the day (and many nights as well), that it just got weird being left alone amongst the silence and captured ghosts. 

The other woman put her drink down for a moment, looking oddly pensive. “My landlord… kinda… kicked me out.” 

“What?”

“Yeah, a coupla days ago.” She ran a hand through her hair, separating the blonde strands in an uncomfortable way, “My cousin is an asshole sometimes.”

“Your cousin? Is your landlord? And he kicked you out?” She was incredulous.

“Benny got tired that I set my place on fire so often.” She sighed, “And there wasn’t even any property damage! I always put the fire out. So, he said that I couldn’t come to Thanksgiving with his family this year unless I left, and I mean, I hate him, but his family is super nice and they make the best -”

“Come home with me!” Erin interrupted her spiel before it escalated into something dangerous.

“What?” Holtzmann gave her a sharp look and Erin quickly realised the true meaning of her words. 

“I mean -” She spluttered, cheeks heating, “I have space - and like, it wouldn’t be any trouble, and on a whole I -”

Holtzmann strode over before she could say any more and pecked her on her cheek. “Thank you.” She averted her eyes and shuffled off to the other side of the room before Erin could say (or do) anything more.

She put a hand to her cheek, blushing furiously. This was ridiculous. She wasn’t a damn kid, there was no reason for her to be so _enamored_ with her pet nuclear physicist and her perfect hair and her terrible jokes and - FUCK.

“You coming?” Holtzmann called, holding the door at the end of the room open. “You’re looking a bit red, there, Erin. The night air might do you some good.” Her smirk was visible even from the other end of the room.

Shit. She was so screwed.


	2. pizza at midnight with the woman i love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> at long last

The cool winter’s air cleared her head as they walked together. Her apartment wasn’t far, and she’d lived in the area long enough to know that the area was relatively safe at night. Besides, with what she’d learned about fighting in the last six months, it wouldn’t be so easy to take her on in a fight if it came to it.

 

“What dastardly, fiendish things are you doing being out this late, Erin Gilbert?” Holtzmann asked from beside her, voice low in the evening air. It wasn’t silent out, considering they were walking down one of the busiest roads in Tribeca, but it was quiet. “Had a hot date?”

 

She pondered for a moment, decided that the truth is more worth it and said, “I was teaching.”

 

“At midnight? In winter? Come on.” Holtzmann replied, with a wide-eyed look. “You teaching vampires or something?” She elbowed her in the ribs, none too gently. 

 

Erin tried to elbow her back but missed as the younger woman expertly dodged out of the way, showing absolutely no signs of clumsiness from her earlier head injury. “I  _ was  _ lecturing… It just finished a little early so I went out for a bit.”

 

“You went out?!” Holtzmann stared at her incredulously. “No way. Who were they..?”

 

“An old Professor of mine, for the record. We caught up. Nothing of interest happened, unless you’re into talking about fascinating new physics theorem.”

 

Holtzmann screwed up her face. “At this time of night? Not really. Or any time. I’ll leave that to you.” 

 

With a chuckle mostly to herself, Erin said, “Thought so.” 

 

They walked together, content in the quiet in a way that only people who are really close can be. The sky was clear and bright with stars. She wondered about her life, about the sheer number of events that had culminated to create this very moment. Had she not decided to chase up Abby about their book, had she never left Abby in the first place, had she never been harassed because she had seen a ghost… She would never have been where she was now, with Holtzmann by her side and six months worth of revelations stuck in her head.

 

She wondered if Holtzmann knew what she was thinking.

 

They turned right into another street and the younger woman’s eyes lit up. She elbowed Erin again and said, “We should  _ totally  _ get pizza.”

 

Erin looked down from the skies above and noticed the pizza stand, somehow still open in the middle of winter, just down the road from them. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at it. “At 1.40 at night? Really? I thought you were tired?”

 

“I  _ was.  _ The bump to the head was oddly invigorating or something because I am  _ pumped  _ for cheese right now, you have no idea.”

 

Erin snorted. She couldn’t help it. “You’ll have bad dreams.”

 

Holtzmann eyed her warily. “You really think I don’t already? C’mon. This job gets to everyone.” 

 

She was right. Ghostbusting did have its drawbacks and the mental toll was one of them. There was nothing like discovering a ghost and learning that she had been murdered by a jealous husband hell bent on revenge; or finding human remains under the outline of a gently watchful spirit; or even seeing translucent hands coming through a wall. The Ghostbusting business had ramifications and absolutely no healthcare plan.

 

“Fine. We’ll get pizza.” She’d probably hate herself in the morning, but right now, it’s nearly two am and somehow she doesn’t mind. 

 

The pizza shack guy said, “Y’all know it’s like 2am, right?” when they ordered, but he didn’t refuse their service. Erin suspected he didn’t get that much business at that time of the night, so it was probably a little bit strange to him. 

 

Still, he served up Holtzmann’s four cheese pizza and her hot ginger lemonade within minutes, so she had no complaints. The whole situation felt very strange to her, like a moment in a dream. She wondered that if she  _ did  _ ever come back this way the man and his shack wouldn't be there, objects of limited permanence and gone far too soon. She certainly hadn’t seen them before and she walked that way home often. 

 

The world felt out of focus and strange. The muffled feeling in her head felt like tiredness, but it could have easily been something else.

 

Her reverie was broken by Holtzmann, who said, “Come on!”, trotting in front of her, with half a slice of pizza muffling her words. “We should go and look at the Hudson!”

 

“It’s just a river…?” Erin replied, but ran after her anyway, trying very hard not to spill her lemonade everywhere.

 

And yes, the Hudson was just a river, but somehow, sitting next to Holtzmann on a park bench, under the light of a thousand stars, it seemed much more than that.

 

Edges started to come back to things when she was halfway through her drink.

 

“You walk home this way every day?” Holtzmann asked, nearly halfway through her pizza, which was by no means small.

 

“Not every day. Like, most days.”

 

“You walk through this park, on your own, at night, most days?” She crunched between words.

 

“Yes…?” Erin’s lemonade was warm and filling. It was a welcome contrast to the 41 degree weather, which was just beginning to get a little  _ too  _ cold.

 

“Lil bit unsafe, isn’t it?”

 

“Says she, Ms ‘I-Build-Dangerous-Inventions-All-The-Time-And-Test-Them-On-Myself’.” Erin teased, nudging the other woman with her hand.

 

Holtzmann’s expression was oddly thoughtful. “Yeah, but I know what I’m doing. There’s hardly any risk because I’ve got a degree in doing this kinda shit. You’ve no idea what could be out there in the dark.” She waved in the vicinity of the wooded area near them.

 

“I’ve not been murdered yet.” Erin took the final sip of her lemonade and threw the cup in the trash. 

 

“You should probably try not to be. Having to ‘bust you would suck.” Holtzmann yawned. 

 

Despite the fact she often appeared to have boundless energy, Erin knew that she could crash and would crash  _ hard  _ if she was tired enough. Considering that Holtzmann had fallen asleep under a table, she was probably pretty exhausted.

 

“Yes. It would.” Considering their occupation, she didn't think about death much. She’d like to think that it'd be because of her ‘live and let live’ attitude, but it was really just because she didn't too get much time to herself. Quiet, with only one other (living) person for company was a rarity, and she liked it. 

 

With the rise and fall of the tide, the boats in front of them pulled at their moorings. The cool winter’s air did nothing to allay the numbness beginning to eat at the tip of her nose.

 

Erin sighed. “Come on. It’s getting late and we’re nearly there.” She climbed to her feet and offered a hand to the blonde.

 

Holtzmann polished off the last slice of her pizza, yawned again and said, “Okay.” She took Erin’s hand and pulled herself to her feet. 

 

Perhaps, just perhaps, amid the sheer freezing nature of her extremities, Erin did feel something after all.

 

“Ah… we’ll just be going then?” Erin cleared her throat and let go reluctantly. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Holtzmann threw her paper plate in the trash with some gusto, wiped her hands on her sweater and gestured wildly. “This way?”

 

“Yes.”

  
  


Her apartment was small, very neat, and wholeheartedly  _ hers.  _  She didn't have many things, but what she lacked in home furnishings she made up with books. There was a photo of the five of them, her Ghostbusting team, on her side table.

 

It was the first time Holtzmann had ever seen her home before and Erin couldn’t help but feel a little bit anxious. 

 

“This is nice.” Holtzmann stretched, her back clicking. “Good view.” 

Erin's eyes were drawn to the gap at the back of her shirt where it had ridden up during her stretching, and she didn't know why.

 

“Yes.” Erin replied. The tension in the room was uncomfortable and she tried to remove herself as fast as possible. She stammered, “U-um, there’s a couch in here and I’ll get you some blankets and stuff after I shower, okay?”

 

“A-ok, my dude.” Holtzmann gave her a tired thumbs-up and leaned against the wall. “You’ve let me sleep over. It’s cool.”

 

Erin nodded and echoed, “cool.”

  
  


The clock on her microwave read  _ 2.20  _ by the time she got out of her shower and dressed for sleep. She was stopped in her tracks by the sheer  _ lack  _ of Holtzmann on her couch, and glanced about to find out where she could be.

 

She did consider yelling out, but she wasn’t going to wake the younger woman up if she  _ was  _ asleep. The blonde didn’t know the code to get downstairs and she wasn’t anywhere else in the apartment, which left…

 

Erin sighed as she stepped into her bedroom to find Holtzmann sprawled across the middle of her bed, shirt half untucked and suspenders bunched around her waist. Erin huffed and threw the blanket that she had been carrying at Holtzmann, who rolled over onto it and clutched at it with all the fervor of a kitten.

 

Erin could wake her up and send her out to the other room. It was her house and she was well within her rights to do so.

 

Instead, she drew her curtains and settled down on the bed next to the slumbering scientist, trying hard not to wake her. She swallowed, heart thudding in her ears, as she pulled the blanket up over the pair of them and turned the bedside light off.

 

Somewhere, outside, a sniff northern wind blows past a ramshackle pizza shack. Boats creak and drift upon the waves, and New York’s ghost population hovers somewhere between this world and the next. 

 

But, inside…

 

“Erin?” Holtzmann’s voice, groggy and uncertain.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Thank you. For tonight. It was good. We should… do this more often.” And she fumbled out to grab Erin’s hand, fingers intertwining with hers.

 

She didn’t know what they’d be like in the morning. She didn’t know if it was born of tiredness, or if it was a dream, but she reached out with her other hand and ran her fingers over Holtzmann’s back, tracing her shoulder blades under her thin dress shirt. “Anytime.”

 

And somewhere, outside, it’s a cold winter’s night.

But here, inside, with the two of them, this is  _ enough.  _

**Author's Note:**

> check out my [gb tumbs](http://pansexualjillianholtzmann.tumblr.com)  
> or my normal [tumbs](http://villainousfilmmaker.tumblr.com)  
> or my [twitter](http://twitter.com/skyuni123)


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